Zimmerman Jail Calls: Lawyer Knew Of Hidden Cash

George Zimmerman suggests in an April 14 phone call from the Seminole County Jail that his attorney, Mark O’Mara, knew that tens of thousands of dollars in donations that were being donated to him via a website dedicated to his legal defense, The Miami Herald reports.

The phone call was one of nearly 150 that Special Prosecutor Angela Corey released on Monday.

During that April 14 phone call between Zimmerman and a friend, Scott, he said that he told O’Mara of an attempt to transfer $37,000 from his legal defense site, but could not do so because of PayPal rules that prevent transactions larger than $10,000.

Zimmerman reportedly told Scott he mentioned the money twice. The Herald has more on that conversation:

“(O’Mara) said he’s going to have me declared indigent,” Zimmerman told his friend. “I told him I didn’t think that would be possible, because there was one sizable transfer I tried to make. It got stopped. You know, $37. He said: ‘Well that doesn’t matter. Right now you’re not working. You’re not providing an income for your family. You’re probably not going to be employable for the rest of your life.’”

At one point the friend asks whether O’Mara knew “the volume” of the donations that came into the PayPal account Zimmerman had set up to solicit donations from the public. Zimmerman said O’Mara knew about the attempted transfer of $37,000, but not any more than that.

They agreed to keep it that way.

O’Mara admitted to having a conversation about a transfer, he claims not to remember the details.

“I recall now some conversation of a transfer, but I don’t recall a specific amount,” O’Mara told The Miami Herald. “If it was $10,000 or $100,000 or $30,000, I would have remembered. It’s not the type of thing you would risk your license to practice law over.”

During his first bond hearing, Zimmerman and his wife, Sheila Zimmerman, lied to the court about how money they actually had. His wife claimed to be a student with limited resources and he claimed to be penniless. However, the couple had more $135,000 between them at the time. Zimmerman’s bail was revoked and he was sent back to jail. Though, after posting bond, he was released after a second hearing. His wife was also jailed for her involvement in misleading the court. She was released after posting bond.

Though Zimmerman was in a jail cell without a mirror or a clock, he seemed to have unlimited access to a phone. He averaged more than 10 15-minute phone calls per day during his first 11 days in jail.

In one phone call, Zimmerman complains to his sister that had their mother given him a “proper Hispanic name,” like “Jorge,” America would better understand him and the ugly aftermath stemming from his killing of 17-year-old unarmed Trayvon Martin could have been avoided.

And while most of the rallys pertaining to his Feb. 26 killing of the Black teen were against Zimmerman, he did have one notable, though repulsive supporter, in Pastor Terry Jones of Gainesville–the Koran-burning, hate mongering “pastor” who once threatened to hold a so-called “International Burn a Koran Day” on the anniversary of 9/11 back in 2010. When Zimmerman heard that Jones wanted to organize a rally on his behalf, he asked that he not do so.

During their phone conversation, Zimmerman and Jones prayed. He also asked Jones to reconsider his rally plans.

“I was calling as one God-fearing sinner to another for time for healing, not just for the city of Sanford, for America,” Zimmerman said. “I know your intentions are good.”

He asked that Jones visit him in jail instead, according to The Herald.